Legend has it that around 2,500 years ago, along the banks of the river Tiber, on the lower slopes of mythical Mt. Sapo, handmaidens would wash clothes. Upstream was a temple, the site of ritual animal sacrifice. On days following rain, maidens noticed the river water produced whitish clumps. When fabrics were rubbed with the clumps, the whites were whiter and the colors were brighter. Legend continues that upstream, rainwater mixed with ashes and melted fats from the sacrificed animals, forming a natural soap. The maidens were the unwitting beneficiaries.

Lye, fat and water give five parts soap, one part glycerin. Glycerin is a natural emollient and an important part of soap. In modern commercial soap making processes,…

They hover around glowing flatscreens with the wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth. Numbers and readouts declare the prognosis grim. Blips and beeps, numbers blinking indicate things could get worse before they get better. Then again, the situation could even be terminal. Watchers wonder if life support is the last chance.

Are "they" doctors and nurses worrying about a patient in intensive care? Relatives watching heart monitors and respirators as a loved one struggles? No. The scene describes stock analysts, broadcasters and most of the rest of America watching CNN and FNN as the stock market heads downward. It’s not a human being they are worried about. Instead, it is the very real sickness that afflicts our…

Time again for another installment of News You Can Use, highlights of news around the world and headlines that point out how we might want to consider alternatives to the way we’re doing things, especially in areas affecting our health. First, let’s start off with headlines about why hospitals are exactly the places you want to avoid if you want to remain healthy.

Caution: Hospitals are hazardous to your health. We think of hospitals as safe places to go, especially if when sick. But if we stop and think about it, many of us have stories about a friend, loved one or relative who went to the hospital for a minor health issue and because of…

Western medicine has made some amazing advances in the past century or so. Its ability to market itself and affect so much of the world’s economy is impressive. The number of pharmaceutical and chemical interventions that Western medicine’s drug merchants have introduced to the marketplace and acquired governmental approval for is astounding.

But have methods of treatment and the understanding of the relationship between health and nature really advanced that much over the knowledge of those who practiced medicine in ancient Egypt, India or China?

Emergency trauma medicine in a modern setting can be awe inspiring. Do not dare to compare current practices of heroic emergency room measures with those of 5,000 years ago. However,…

Summertime is peaking and there’s a chance that you, like 500,000 other Americans, will enjoy the park or a picnic and return home with a friend. Her name is Ivy. Her victims call her Poison.

Contact dermatitis is her gift to you. It’s the result of touching the oily toxins in a trio of plants named poison ivy, poison sumac and poison oak. Though each is a different plant, all have something in common. They contain urushiol (pronounced oo-roo-shee-ohl) in their sap. Urushiol is among the planet’s most toxic substances. It likely won’t kill you (though it can,) but you might wish you were dead. As little as one-billionth of a gram of urushiol can cause…

Google “superfoods” and you’ll come up with almost as many lists as the internet has web pages. There is no definition of what a superfood is, but at least the European Union knows what it isn’t. EU law prohibits using the term “superfood” on any label attached to a food that has not been shown by independent scientific study to have an established medical benefit. So unless a food cures a certain condition, it doesn’t qualify in Europe. If only the Internet was ruled by such a clause. On the internet, one can find so-called superfoods that carry all sorts of health claims, from flatter tummies to healthier hearts. And the search results include some pretty exotic names. Boku Juice,…

Welcome further into Gemini. Fix up loose ends until the Gemini New Moon Solar Eclipse on June 1st. Eclipses bring reversals. I’ll talk more then. Enjoy the breath of spring. I love you all. There are no mistakes if you do what you do for the experience. Peace and love shall conquer all — the peace of the forest and the love that exists all around us. MOJOPOPlanetPower.comc GEMINI (5.21-6.21) Your power is in your subconscious way of knowing. The subconscious is always trying to communicate with us; it’s just abstract instead of linear. Information comes to us “from right field.” We are taught by logic to learn from what we know. Well, it’s time for you…